The Kind IPA | Three Heads Brewing

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Notes / Commercial Description:
Voraciously hoppy and not overly bitter. The Kind brings enormous aroma and maximum flavor. It's like taking a walk through a pine forest and ending up at a citrus farm. This beer brings joy to the world, one sip at a time.
6.8% Alc/vol. 76 IBUs.

Notes via stream of consciousness: Hazy golden body beneath a finger-thick head of slightly off-white foam. I'll assume that the haze is at least partially due to dry-hopping. It's distinctly tropical/citrusy fruity in the aroma, but also herbal and piney. The flavor adds lot of earthiness, and some dull, grainy malt. The head has held up remarkably well so far and there are now thin rings within a solid wall of thin lacing that mark each of the sips I've taken. It's odd that the aroma and flavor are so different with so much less citrus and tropical fruit in the flavor. It's medium bodied, perhaps leaning towards medium-full, and gently crisp with a median carbonation level. It's kind of malty but the bitterness is still able to cut through it, and then balances it easily in the finish. Plenty of hops remain, lingering, mostly earthy, piney, and herbal.

T/F: Malty sweetness... grains... lots of evergreen. Piney and resinous. Some herbal notes with citrus/fruit a bit later in the sip. Smooth and creamy in mouthfeel... bitter but not overpowering. Sticky finish.

O: A pleasant and easy-drinking IPA, and I think I like this more than the other entries into the 'kind' beer tree. Good flavor... overall a positive.

On tap at Southern Hops in Florence, SC. A couple 3 Heads a long way from home on the guest taps here.

Pours clear gold with surging two fingers of head. Curtains of persistent lacing, a ring of head and blanket of carbonation.
Slight grassy hop, aroma, faint piney note.
Bitter pine dominates, grapefruit peel, yuzu. Blows away the malts.
Medium mouthfeel, smooth.
Tasty, not outstanding in any category Not going to seek this one out again.

I a fondness for Three Heads after seeing a friend of mine's band play at their brewery and sampling several of the beers. 'The Kind' is their flagship beer. In bottled format it is a very average beer with an unimpressive appearance, pleasant aroma and decent taste. A workmanlike, if uninspired beer.

Pours a very standard dark amber with a small head. Aroma is of fresh, grassy hops, herbaceous and with a light floral element. Taste is bitter upfront with not much complexity. More bitterness late on too. An enjoyable beer but not an IPA I would seek given the plentiful superior options in that genre.

Look - 3.75 - Poured a hazy gold with a half inch white head. Leaves a small amount of lacing on the side of the glass. Nothing wrong here but wasn't put off by the haze because it was due to the unfiltered nature of this brew.
Smell - 3.5 - Not as hoppy smelling as an American IPA should be, in fact the smell was a little bit of honey sweetness at times. Still, citrus and pine hop notes present but were competing with the sweet maltiness.
Taste - 3.5 - Citrus hop forward with sweet honey/caramel malt tones finishing with a lingering bitter earthy pine resin. The bitter lingering isn't harsh but a smooth bitter. No alcohol warmness or flavor detected.
Feel - 3.75 - Smooth. Little under medium carbonation with small/soft bubbles rolling across the tongue. Almost a creaminess akin more to a pale ale. Dry finish. medium body that fills out more when reaching 50+ degrees F.
Overall - 3.5 - Pretty solid IPA but nothing to really rave about. Hop character was there but not as bold in the nose as it should be. Malt/hop balance is what IMO would make this brew better. Would drink again any day though.